Beginnings
by Challenger2011
Summary: A collection of one-shots that cover events before, during and after Little One leading up to the Battle of Tyger Pax.
1. Guardian

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters in it. **

**A/N: Like the summary says, this is going to be a series of one-shots that covers events before, during, and after Little One up to the point where Nightmares and Reality starts. For the readers of Nightmares and Reality, I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I've had some writers block, but I'm finally getting some ideas on what to do. So now on to the first one-shot:**

**Title: Guardian**

**Characters: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Ratchet**

**Pairings: None**

**Rating: K**

**Notes: Takes place after Wanted After All**

* * *

When Ratchet announced that he was going to be their guardian, Sunstreaker had no clue about how to react. Sideswipe had instantly apologized for the prank they had pulled earlier, clearly happy that someone had decided to become their guardian. But the gold twin wasn't happy. He was fairly certain that the only reason that the medic decided to be their guardian was out of pity and how could he be happy about that. If they annoyed him too much he would probably just dump them off onto someone else. Their own creators didn't want them, so why would he?

He had been the first to realize that their creators had abandoned them. Sideswipe had held on to some naïve belief that their creators simply hadn't found them. Sunstreaker had known better. The other younglings' creators had gotten to them very soon after they had been brought to the base. If those creators had known, he was fairly sure that theirs would have too. Especially since they were Autobots, and pretty much every Autobot knew where he and Sideswipe were. It was clear that their creators didn't want them anymore. Sunstreaker just wasn't sure how it had taken until the other orn for his twin to realize that.

"Why are you being so rude to Ratchet?" Sideswipe finally asked his twin.

"Why are you being so nice?" he countered.

"He's going to be our guardian Sunny, didn't you hear him? Someone actually wants us!"

"He feels sorry for us. He doesn't really want us. We're just a big burden to everyone – that's probably why our creators don't come."

"He does want us Sunny, he told me himself."

"And he decided this after you complained last night to him," Sunstreaker pointed out.

"That doesn't prove anything!" Sideswipe narrowed his optics.

The two brothers remained in silence for several breems, with Sideswipe glaring at Sunstreaker. Sideswipe just didn't get it. He had been sure that his brother would have been just as happy as he was with knowing that they had a guardian. Then a thought occurred to him. Maybe he could tell Ratchet and then the medic would be able to convince Sunstreaker that he really did want them. Yeah, that would work. And after Ratchet explained it to Sunstreaker, everything would be better. The two of them could finally stop arguing about this.

"Fine, then I'll prove it to you!"

And with that Sideswipe marched off, leaving behind a dumbfounded Sunstreaker.

* * *

Sunstreaker was alone in his and Sideswipe's room when Ratchet found him. As soon as the golden twin saw him, he turned away to where he wouldn't be facing the medic. Ratchet let out a small sigh before walking further into the room and sitting next to Sunstreaker on the youngling's berth.

"Why are you tormenting your brother?"

"I'm not tormenting him. I'm telling him the truth," the youngling turned and looked up at him. "Admit it, you felt sorry for us and that's why you decided to become our guardian."

"Yes, I do feel sorry for the two of you," Ratchet admitted, which slightly surprised Sunstreaker – he had almost expected the medic to start out denying it. "I, and all of the others, hate that there are younglings and sparklings that have to grow up with a war going on. I know that it will be tougher with you and Sideswipe being twins. Because of that I know that you need some consistency in your lives and you need someone who knows how to take care of you."

"We don't need anyone," Sunstreaker muttered. "We can take care of ourselves."

Ratchet simply shook his head. It was clear to him already which twin was going to be the hardest to take care of. He wasn't exactly surprised that the twins differed when it came to how they would react to their abandonment and him taking up the role of guardian for them. It wasn't exactly rare for some twins to have extreme differences with how they reacted to situations or their personalities in general. As bewildering as it could be at times, it was easy to sum it up as them being the result of a split spark. Of course the two of them weren't all that different at the moment, but Ratchet knew as they got older the major differences in them would be known.

"You can think that all you want Sunstreaker, but you do need someone to take care of you, whether you realize it or not. Do you think Bumblebee could take care of himself?"

Sunstreaker scoffed, "Of course not. He's a sparkling. Me and Sides aren't that young. We'll be old enough to train before he's even considered a youngling."

"So right now, if you and Sideswipe were on your own, you would be able to completely take care of yourselves and defend yourselves if you were attacked? I'm extremely doubtful based on what happened the other orn."

Sunstreaker faltered, not expecting that the medic would bring that up.

"Okay, we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves but that doesn't change anything! Our creators didn't want us, so why should we believe that you do!?"

The youngling was on the brink of crying, and as much as he tried to hide it, Ratchet could tell. The medic didn't say anything about it though, knowing that Sunstreaker was not the twin who would want things like that pointed out to him. Instead Ratchet gently placed a servo on the youngling's shoulder in an attempt to give some comfort and aside from a small glare the youngling did nothing to push him away.

"Sunstreaker, I understand that you and Sideswipe both have doubts that you're actually wanted. If you don't believe me when I tell you that you are, that's fine, but please let me take care of you and your brother. Whether you like it or not, the two of you need someone to take care of you until you are fully grown, and I'm going to be the one to take care of you."

Sunstreaker crossed his arms.

"So do we have to start calling you creator or something now?"

Ratchet shook his head, "You can just call me Ratchet. I'm not your creator, but you are going to listen to me as if I was."

"Do we get to keep our own room or do we have to move into yours?"

"You and Sideswipe can stay in this room. The way you two act with pranks sometimes, I don't think I would even want you anywhere near my room.

"I don't think you're going to have to worry about that for a while. Sides is so happy that you're our guardian, he's going to avoid pranking you for a few orns at the least."

"I'm glad that you brought up Sideswipe, Sunstreaker," Ratchet stated. "I think now would be the perfect opportunity to go and apologize to him.

"Whatever," Sunstreaker replied hoping off the berth to go in search of his twin.

He would accept the fact that Ratchet was going to be his guardian for the time being, probably for the rest of his life, but it sure was going to take some getting used to.


	2. Small Steps

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters in it. **

**Title: Small Steps**

**Characters: Bumblebee, Elita-1**

**Pairings: None**

**Rating: K**

**Notes: Written in honor of Mother's Day**

* * *

When Elita had decided that she wanted to be a mother, she knew that there would be many challenges ahead for her and Optimus. The main challenge would be keeping their sparkling out of harms way as the war around them raged on, but she knew that there would be other obstacles for them as well. But while she knew she would have to face them, that didn't necessarily mean she was prepared for them. Not being able to be with her sparkling all the time was extremely hard on her. Sometimes she envied Optimus for being able to be with Bumblebee so much more than she was. But there were times, such as now, that even he wasn't able to be with their sparkling. And it was times like these when Elita made sure to spend as much time with her son as possible.

"Alright my little Bumblebee, I do believe it's time to teach you how to walk," Elita said setting her son down on the ground of the rec room.

"What walk?"

"This is walking," Elita stood back up and walked around the sparkling.

"Sides and Sunny learn walk?"

"No, they're not learning how to walk."

"Why?"

"Well, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker don't have pedes like you do. They roll around, instead of walking," the femme smiled. "And even if they did have pedes like you, they would have already learned how to walk."

The sparkling seemed to consider her words for a moment, and Elita waited patiently – knowing that there would be at least one other question from Bumblebee before she could start teaching him how to walk.

"How Bee walk?" Bumblebee curiously asked.

Elita sat down behind her son and gently picked up his arms, before lifting him to where his pedes were above the ground. The sparkling let out a small whimper, slightly confused as to what his mother was doing. Elita had expected as much, which was why she had planned to get him used to simply standing with her help before she even attempted to get him to walk.

"It's alright," she soothed. "I'm just helping you stand up."

"No like," Bumblebee whined as Elita got his pedes to touch the ground. "Want down."

"But if I put you down, you won't be able to learn how to walk. Don't you want to be able to walk like Optimus? You know, I'd bet he would be very surprised to come back to find a sparkling running up to him instead of crawling."

"But Bee like crawl."

This caused the femme to laugh, "I know you do Bumblebee, but I think you'll like walking better. You can't crawl forever."

"Lita carry Bee!" Bumblebee chirped. "Op too!"

"But what will you do when you're bigger?"

"Bee be bigger than Lita?"

"I don't know, you might be. And you wouldn't really want me or Optimus to carry you around when you're older, would you? I don't think you would. So why don't you at least try this." When Bumblebee didn't say anything else, Elita continued. "Would you like to try to stand on your own now?"

"No want to."

"Alright then, we can try again later."

Elita sat Bumblebee back down on the ground before sitting down next to him. Almost instantly her son crawled over onto her lap and snuggled close to her. She smiled down at him and began to rub his back, earning her a small purr in response. In all honesty, Elita didn't really mind if Bumblebee wasn't ready to begin walking yet – though he was near the point of needing to learn before he fell behind in development. But it surprised her that he didn't even want to attempt to try.

"Bumblebee? Why don't you want to try to walk?"

"Scary," the sparkling answered.

"Why is it scary?"

"Bee get hurt."

"Why would you get hurt?

Elita saw from the look on Bumblebee's face that he was struggling to explain why he was afraid he could get hurt. This was the hard part of trying to converse with a sparkling. Bumblebee's vocabulary was limited and there were many things that he didn't understand, which made explaining some of his fears difficult. The femme tried to think of something that would frighten her sparkling enough to where he wouldn't want to walk. She knew that sometimes small skirmishes would break out between some of the Autobots. Even though they were all on the same side, there were always clashing personalities and inevitably brawls would break out. Though it annoyed the femme to think that some of them had started to fight in front of a sparkling.

"Bumblebee, did you see some Autobots fighting each other?"

The sparkling nodded, "Bot fell and got hurt. Bee no want get hurt."

"I see," Elita said, nodding her head. "But you know, I think we'll all make sure that you don't get hurt. And just because you fall, doesn't mean you'll get hurt. In fact, that one bot probably only got hurt because he was fighting another Autobot. And you wouldn't try fighting anyone, would you?"

Bumblebee rapidly shook his head no, "Bee no want hurt bots."

"That's good," Elita smiled. "So will you try walking?"

"Bee have to?"

"Not if you don't want to. But eventually, you'll have to try."

Bumblebee seemed to be contemplating her words.

"Lita no let Bee fall?"

"I promise, I will make sure that you won't fall."

"Bee try."

"Alright then," the purple femme replied as she helped the sparkling get back up.

Gently Elita lifted Bumblebee's arms back up and set him to where his pedes were touching the ground. She instructed the sparkling to move the pedes and before she knew it, Bumblebee was walking with her help. Bumblebee let out a happy shriek when he realized what he was doing, and Elita took that as a sign that her sparkling really did enjoy walking. She knew that she wouldn't let him go just yet to let him try to walk on his own. She had promised him that she wasn't going to let him fall, and she would keep that promise. The last thing she wanted was for him to get too scared to try walking again later, or for him to be upset with her.

"You're doing a good job Bumblebee," Elita praised.

"Bee good walk!" Bumblebee giggled.

"Yes, you are good at walking," she replied as she swung Bumblebee back up into her arms, causing Bumblebee to let out a little squeal. Once he was off of the ground, the sparkling happily snuggled closer to Elita – resting his head on her shoulder.

"Lita? Why no stay with Op and Bee all time?"

"Well," she tried to think of the best way to explain it, "I have to help make sure that all of the bad bots who might try to hurt my little Bumblebee are stopped. I want to make sure that you're safe."

"Lita stay when bad bots gone?"

"Mm-hmm. When that happens, we'll all get to be together all the time. Me, you, and Optimus."

"Lita stay til Op come back?"

"I think I'll try to stay for a little while after Optimus comes back. That way we can both be with you for a little while. Would you like that?"

Bumblebee gave a small nod before letting out a yawn.

"Love Lita," he said as he shuttered his optics.

"I love you too, Bumblebee," she smiled at him. "I think that you're ready for a nap."

"Lita nap too."

"Alright, I'll take a nap with you," Elita said as she headed towards the room she shared with Bumblebee and Optimus.

She was glad that she was there to witness Bumblebee's milestone, and she hoped that she would get to witness many more.


	3. Quality Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters in it.**

**Title: Quality Time**

**Characters: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Elita-1**

**Pairings: None**

**Rating: K**

**Notes: A day late one-shot for Father's Day**

* * *

Optimus Prime had only been a father for four orns, when he first had to take care of his sparkling by himself. Elita had went on what she had thought would be a short trip to visit her squadron, but had run into a delay and wouldn't be back until the next orn. This unfortunately left Optimus alone with a very confused sparkling. Bumblebee had not been apart from Elita at all since he had first come online, and because of this her absence was beginning to upset him. Optimus had been trying to keep the sparkling distracted with the hopes that Elita would be back sooner than she had thought, but unfortunately his attempts did not seem to be working.

"Shh, little one," he tried to soothe. "Elita will be back soon."

Bumblebee let out a small whine and squirmed a little in Optimus' arms. Optimus had not realized how difficult it could be to soothe an upset sparkling. Taking care of Bumblebee and soothing him seemed to come naturally to Elita, but it was a complete learning experience for him. Of course Elita had two younger sisters, though she was not much older than Chromia, and had spent time in the Youth Sectors when the war had first begun, helping with the sparklings and younglings there. He had not had that kind of experience, rarely actually being around sparklings, and being the youngest sibling instead of the oldest. Carefully he lifted Bumblebee closer to his spark, remembering that Elita usually held him next to hers. When his son snuggled closer to him and his whines stopped, he knew that he had at least calmed the sparkling for a little while.

_(I do not suppose that you will be back sooner than what you said earlier?) _Optimus asked through his bond to Elita.

_(Unfortunately no. There are attacks near my squadron's current position. As much as I want to get back to you and Bumblebee, I can't abandon them. How is he?)_

_(He misses you. I am not as good at comforting him as you are...)_

_(You'll figure it out. This is a good time for you to strengthen your bond with him. By the time I get back, he'll probably be more attached to you than he will be to me.)_

_(I do not believe that could happen Elita. Your bond with him is already far too strong for that.)_

_(You're going to have a strong bond with him too. Just keep Bumblebee distracted. Talk to him, play with him, before you know it he'll be in recharge.)_

_(Alright. Be safe Elita.)_

When he finished his conversation with his sparkmate, Optimus glanced down at his sparkling. Bumblebee was curiously looking around the room, still snuggled close against his father's spark. Gently Optimus started to rub the top of his son's head, causing Bumblebee to look up at him and let out a tiny chirp.

"What should we do now little one?"

Bumblebee let out several clicks and reached up to pat Optimus' face, but couldn't quite reach it. The Autobot leader smiled and lifted the sparkling to where he could reach his target. Bumblebee let out a small giggle as he continued to pat his father's face. It amazed Optimus how easily this entertained his son, though he did know that soon he would have to find something else to entertain him. After all sparklings were not exactly the most patient beings. He spotted one of the sparkling's toys and went over to pick it up before dangling it in front of Bumblebee's face. Bumblebee let out another click as he tried to grab the toy from Optimus, letting out a tiny giggle when Optimus pulled it away from him. Optimus moved the toy close to Bumblebee again before pulling it away, causing him to giggle once more.

After a little while of playing, Optimus was able to tell that Bumblebee was beginning to get tired. Sitting back down on his berth, he gently lowered Bumblebee to where he was laying against his spark. Bumblebee let out several quiet clicks as he snuggled up to get as close to Optimus as he could.

"Rest now little one," Optimus said as he rubbed Bumblebee's head.

"Click."

Bumblebee sleepily gazed up at his father before nuzzling his head into his chest. Carefully Optimus covered his sparkling's tiny body with one of his servos as Bumblebee drifted into recharge.

* * *

"Click. Chirp. Chirp. Click."

Optimus listened to Bumblebee's clicks and chirps the next orn as he prepared some energon for the sparkling. Bumblebee certainly didn't seem to be as upset by Elita's absence as he was before, though Optimus was sure that it would dawn on the sparkling soon enough that she still wasn't there. Fortunately Elita had contacted Optimus earlier that she would be back in a few more joors.

Optimus was surprised at how tiring and draining it could be, trying to take care of a sparkling. He was more tired then he usually was on some of his missions and coming up with enough activities to occupy the sparkling was harder than some of the battle planning that he had to do. Still he felt a sense of peace and satisfaction that he had never had before.

Before Elita came into his life, his strongest bond was with his brother. The history with that had changed him and it took him a while to open up. He was glad that Elita had not given up on him when they first met. She had been much more social than he was, always more in the center of the gatherings while he was observing in the background. Their different upbringings played a huge factor in that difference – Sentinel tried to keep him and Megatron away from large gatherings with Cybertronians that he did not believe were in their class, which made fitting in with the others rather difficult at first. But little by little, Elita pulled him out of his solitude.

"Click! Chirp, click!" the sparkling's noise brought Optimus out of his thoughts.

Bumblebee was pleadingly looking up at his father, most likely wanting to have some more energon.

"What an appetite you have little one," Optimus said as he refilled the bottle.

Being a father would be the hardest job he had ever faced. There was no denying that, but Optimus knew that it would be by far the most rewarding.


	4. First Meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters in it.**

**Title: First Meeting **

**Characters: Optimus Prime, Megatron, Elita-1, Ironhide, Chromia, Jazz**

**Pairings: Optimus/Elita, Ironhide/Chromia**

**Rating: K**

**Notes: Pre-war**

* * *

"That femme is staring at me."

"Femmes always stare when we're out, Optimus. They know who we are, and they know we have a higher social standing then them. Therefore they stare."

Optimus ignored his brother and looked back at the purple femme. He had never understood his brother's and Sentinel's views on interaction with the lower class. They could acknowledge them, listen to things that they wanted, but that was as far as it could go. Sentinel did not allow socializing with lower class citizens. Optimus didn't share those sentiments. If they were to lead the planet, shouldn't they get to know all of the citizens of different classes. He had always wanted to talk to one of them, and looking at the purple femme, he at least wanted to know her name.

"She is pretty," he said to Megatron.

"Yes, I suppose she does look nice, but that doesn't change anything," Megatron stated, taking a good look at his brother. "You're not about to go over there are you?"

"Why would it be so bad if I did? If I am to be a Prime like Sentinel says, I believe I should talk to people like her."

Megatron scoffed, "You and I both know that you being a _Prime _has nothing to do with your reasons for wanting to talk to her. You just want to talk to her because you think she's pretty. Do you even know how to talk to femmes or anyone that's not Sentinel or myself?"

"Well I... no, I do not. It is not my fault though. Sentinel has not let us converse with many others, therefore we do not have the experience in doing so."

"I have experience. Unlike you, I have friends."

"I was not aware that the sparkling from Vos that follows you around when we visit, counts as a friend," Optimus attempted to joke. "And besides, I have Ironhide as a friend."

Optimus had met Ironhide back when he had first attempted to get to know the lower class by getting a job several vorns ago. Needless to say that Sentinel had gotten word of it and hadn't been pleased at all. Allowing him to remain friends with Ironhide had been Sentinel's way of compromising. Optimus could keep the mech as a friend as long as he stopped trying to work amongst the lower class and focused more on learning how to lead.

"You know very well that I was not referring to Starscream and he's a youngling now, not a sparkling. And will you stop staring at the femme? You're going to cause her to come over here."

Optimus sincerely hoped that she would come over to them, if only just so he could prove to his brother that he could talk to her. Granted, he wasn't exactly sure what he could say, but he was sure that he could figure something out. Hopefully.

"Why would it be bad for her to come over here?"

"Because if she does, Sentinel will end up finding out that you were talking to a lower class. You know that he always finds out what we're doing when we are out by ourselves."

"I still don't see why it would be a bad thing."

"What would be a bad thing?"

Both mechs were visibly startled by the new voice and turned to see that the purple femme had joined them.

"I'm sorry, I just noticed you looking over at me and thought I would come and introduce myself. My name is Elita-1."

"It is nice to meet you Elita. My name is Optimus and this is my brother Megatron."

Optimus gave Megatron a quick look to say, "See I can talk to her".

"Oh, I know who you are. I think most Cybertronians around here do, but it's nice to officially meet you."

"Yes, yes very nice. Optimus we need to go now."

"No, we don't."

"Yes, we do."

"If you have to go, it's alright. Maybe we could meet again later?"

"That would be nice," Optimus agreed, causing Megatron to let out a groan.

Ignoring Megatron, Elita continued to speak, "There's a place a little ways away from here that I'm meeting some friends at in four joors. Would you like to join us?"

"I would. Where exactly is the place you're meeting them at?"

Elita gave Optimus the coordinates before saying goodbye and leaving. The red and blue mech could practically feel Megatron glaring at him and was sure he would hear Megatron's opinion on the whole thing on their way back home.

"I'm not going to stop you from going," Megatron stated as they started back. "Because I'm sure Sentinel has already heard of your entire plan of going off to spend time with the lower class later. And if he hasn't, then you have that to look forward to when you return."

* * *

Sentinel fortunately hadn't seemed to know about his plans with Elita, which had been a relief to Optimus. Of course that didn't mean sneaking out was going to be an easy thing to do. The guards Sentinel had guarding their home were always difficult to get past, and Optimus was fairly certain that there were always some following him whenever he went out. Megatron knew it just as well, which was probably why he was watching him with a smirk on his face.

Truthfully he should have put more thought into this before he told Elita that he would meet her, but he had been caught up in the moment. Now he had no idea how to get to her. Telling Sentinel was out of the question, because there was no doubt that his adopted father/mentor would tell him how they shouldn't interact with those that were not in their class and prevent him from going. If he wanted to go, he would have to sneak out. And Optimus had no idea how to go about doing that.

"Have you ever sneaked out before?" he questioned Megatron.

"If I had, why would I tell you? This is much more enjoyable."

"Please brother? If you know how to get out, can you not help me?"

"I tried to help you, but you insisted on talking to the femme."

"Megatron I will do whatever you want if you just help me." Optimus had the feeling he would regret saying that later on, but right now he was desperate.

"Very well. Follow me."

Megatron's way of leading him out, consisted of moving, stopping, and turning around several times. Optimus was becoming more certain that his brother had sneaked out before, and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to know where he went to.

"There, go meet your femme friend," Megatron said when they were outside. "I'm sure you can figure out how to get back in without getting caught."

"Thank you Megatron."

The older mech said nothing and walked back inside, as Optimus headed off in the direction of the coordinates Elita had given him. The closer he got, the more nervous he became about seeing Elita again, and meeting her friends. He had never actually spent a lot of time with a large group, and he certainly had no idea what he could talk about. Would he even have anything in common with them? Most likely not.

"Optimus? What are you doing out here?"

Optimus nearly jumped at the sound of the voice, but soon relaxed when he realized it was Ironhide.

"Hello Ironhide. I met a femme when I was out with Megatron earlier, and she invited me to come meet her again."

"Sentinel Prime let you come out by yourself to meet a femme?" the other mech questioned in disbelief.

"Well, no. He does not know that I am out here."

"Sneaking out, you must really like this femme. What's her name?"

"Elita-1, and I would not say that I really like her just yet. I barely got to talk to her before."

"Where are you meeting her at?" Ironhide asked, a look of surprise crossing his face when Optimus told him the coordinates. "I'm going there to meet 'Mia. You know she has an older sister named, Elita. I bet she's the femme you're meeting."

"I did not know that Chromia had a sister."

"She has two, actually. An older one and a younger one. I'm glad that you're finally going to get to meet her. I've been meaning to have the two of you meet."

"Well it is a good thing that I met Elita then, and I am glad that you will be there too Ironhide. It will be nice to have at least one friendly face around."

"Don't act like I'm going to be the only one nice to you. All of them are friendly, so you don't have to worry."

The red and blue mech gave a small nod in response. He could do this. Everything was going to be fine.

As soon as they walked into the small restaurant two femmes walked over to him. The purple one, Optimus recognized as Elita. He could only assume that the blue one was Chromia, and his thoughts were confirmed when she went straight to Ironhide.

"I'm glad that you were able to make it," Elita said. "I was worried that you wouldn't be able to come."

"I was a little worried myself, but I managed to make it out."

_And hopefully I wasn't followed_, he mentally added. Optimus was never able to tell if he was being followed by Sentinel's guards or not. And he certainly didn't know if Megatron had lead him out a way where he wouldn't be spotted by the guards. His brother was hoping that he would get in trouble, and it wouldn't surprise Optimus at all if Megatron had assured that he would get caught and would have to face Sentinel when he returned.

"So you weren't kidding when you said that you had invited a higher class."

"Of course I wasn't. Jazz, Chromia, this is Optimus. Optimus this is my sister Chromia, and our friend Jazz."

"It is nice to meet you both," Optimus greeted.

Elita grabbed his hand and led him over to a table.

"I'm sorry if I got you in trouble earlier by talking to you. I know that Sentinel Prime isn't all that fond of his heirs talking to those of us who aren't in the social status."

"That is one of the few things that I do not agree with Sentinel on. I have never understood his reasons why."

"So what's it like? Being Sentinel Prime's heir?" she curiously asked.

"I am not exactly sure how to answer that. Most of the time it is nice, but it is also sometimes stressful knowing that one day I will be one of Cybertron's leaders. I am not sure if I will be good at it or not."

"Well the fact that you're actually willing to talk to me, makes me think that you'll be a good one."

"That is nice of you to say."

It was silent for a few moments after that, but then a small smile formed on Elita's face.

"You're not used to holding long conversations are you?"

"Unfortunately no. Sentinel, my brother, and Ironhide are the ones I talk to the most. I know that my conversation skills are not the best."

"Well then I guess I'm going to have to help you work on that then."

Optimus gave her smile in return, "That would be very nice."

* * *

It was late when Optimus returned home, and he knew that Sentinel had to have noticed that he had been missing by now, but truthfully he didn't really care. He had enjoyed his time with Elita, and hoped that he would be able to spend time with her again. While she had been the one talking for the majority of their conversation, she had found little ways to get him to join in. Hopefully with time, he would be able to converse more with her.

"Sentinel Prime wishes to speak with you."

"Thank you for telling me," Optimus replied to the guard as he headed towards his adopted father's office.

A feeling of nervousness flooded through him as he paused in front of Sentinel's door before knocking. What if he tried to prevent him from seeing Elita again? No, he wouldn't let that stop him. No matter what Sentinel would say to him, he would find a way to see her again, and the others that he had met as well. He was tired of Sentinel trying to prevent him from making friends regardless of their status, and he wasn't going to pay any mind to that rule ever again.


	5. Fight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters in it.**

**Title: Fight**

**Characters: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Ratchet, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee**

**Pairings: None**

**Rating: K**

* * *

It had just been a stupid fight. It wasn't like they hadn't had any before. Sunstreaker couldn't even remember what it was about! That's how insignificant it was! So there was absolutely no reason for Sideswipe to have run off. Now several of the Autobots were out trying to locate the silver twin, forcing Sunstreaker to have to stay with Optimus and Bumblebee in Optimus' office in the meantime. The gold twin was frustrated by the whole thing. The fact that Ratchet had acted like it was his fault that Sideswipe had left, hadn't helped things at all for him.

"Sunny sad?"

Sunstreaker turned his head to see that Bumblebee had toddled over to him. The yellow sparkling had been confused as to what was going on and no one had been able to adequately explain it to him. Of course the fact that no one actually knew why Sideswipe had decided running away was a smart thing to do made it difficult to explain. Sunstreaker figured that Bumblebee had simply gotten tired of not getting an answer from Optimus and thought that he would give him one instead.

"I'm not sad. I'm mad."

"Why mad?"

"Because Sides left and everyone's acting like it's my fault!"

"Why Sides go?"

"I don't know!"

Bumblebee let out a tiny whimper from Sunstreaker yelling, causing the gold twin to feel bad. He knew that he really shouldn't be yelling at Bumblebee, but he couldn't help it. When Optimus walked over and picked up Bumblebee, Sunstreaker was expecting to be scolded, but was surprised when the older mech simply sat down next to him instead.

"Sunstreaker, I do not believe anyone believes Sideswipe leaving is solely your fault."

"Ratchet sure acted like he thought it was..."

"Ratchet is worried about Sideswipe. I doubt that he believes that blame falls solely on yourself."

The twin knew that Optimus was probably right, but it still didn't change his feelings. He wasn't as close to the medic as his brother was. Sideswipe had gladly accepted their guardian, he hadn't. Even after he had finally accepted the idea that Ratchet would be the one taking care of them, Sunstreaker still hadn't completely warmed up to the medic. Ratchet had probably figured out that Sideswipe was going to be the one that would be close to him, Sunstreaker was going to keep his distance.

"I hate this! I don't even remember what we were fighting about, but Sides just decided to leave because of it! I only pushed him once..."

"You pushed him?"

"I was mad, and it's not like it hasn't happened before."

"And Sideswipe pushes you too?"

"No, not usually."

"I see. Sunstreaker, has it occurred to you that perhaps Sideswipe does not like it when your arguments escalate into physical fights?"

"We're brothers, we fight," the twin shrugged.

"I know very well that brothers fight," Optimus smiled sadly. "That does not mean that it is an enjoyable experience."

"Did you and Megatron fight before..."

"Yes. Megatron and I were once close, though we would also fight often. It was never an enjoyable experience..."

"Did you ever run away like Sideswipe did?"

"Op leave?" a tiny whimper drew Optimus' attention back to his sparkling.

"I am not leaving Bumblebee," he soothed before looking back at Sunstreaker. "No, I never ran away. The thought crossed my mind, but I never acted on it because I knew that I would not be able to get past Sentinel's guards. Sideswipe should not have been able to get past all of us and whenever he is found and returned, it will not happen again."

"I hope they bring him back soon. My spark hurts."

Ratchet had explained to him and Sideswipe that as twins, separation would not be a pleasant experience for them. They were so accustomed to being in a close proximity, being separated for a long enough period of time would cause their sparks to start hurting. Feeling it firsthand, Sunstreaker could tell that it was something that he didn't like and he wanted it to stop. He knew that Sideswipe had to be feeling the same way and he wondered if his brother now regretted running off in the first place. Sunstreaker felt small arms trying to wrap around him and saw that Bumblebee had squirmed out of Optimus' hold and was now trying to give him a hug. Even if the sparkling didn't understand what had happened, he did understand the concept of "hurt" and wanted to make Sunstreaker feel better.

It was two joors later when Ratchet and Jazz returned with Sideswipe. Almost instantly did Sunstreaker run over and hug his brother. Both of them started to apologize to the other about what had happened. The twins were babbling simultaneously, so making out what they were actually saying, aside from the rapid use of the word "sorry", was difficult for the other Autobots.

After Bumblebee gave Sideswipe a quick hug and told him that he was glad that he was back, Optimus took his son and left the room with Jazz, to give the twins some time alone with their guardian. It had been a long orn, and there was no doubt that there would be a discussion about what had happened. Ratchet looked down at the two brothers, trying to decide on what to say. Part of him wanted to yell at them, but he knew that wouldn't be the best course of action at the moment.

"What happened?" he asked finally.

"We were stupid," Sunstreaker was the first to speak.

"We got in a fight and I was mad, so I ran off. I was going to come back, but I got lost. I didn't mean to."

"And I didn't know that Sides didn't like it when I pushed him until Optimus said so."

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were still practically glued to one another, and were looking at Ratchet apologetically. At least the medic knew that they actually did regret their actions. Of course there was still the matter of making sure it didn't happen again to attend to.

"Next time you two get in a fight and are mad at each other, come to me. I'll find something for each of you to do, so you can spend some time apart until things calm down. I don't want either of you to leave base again without someone being with you. You're lucky that you weren't killed out there, Sideswipe."

"I'm sorry."

Sideswipe broke away from Sunstreaker and went over to hug Ratchet. Sunstreaker hesitated, but eventually joined his brother in hugging the medic. Ratchet was surprised by the gesture, but returned it before leading the two to their room. By no means was he going to let the twins off this easy, especially not Sideswipe for running away, but the two had been through enough for the orn. Coming up with a punishment could wait until tomorrow.

"Are we in trouble?" Sideswipe asked as he and Sunstreaker walked into their room.

"Yes, I'll come up with a punishment tomorrow," Ratchet said as he closed their door and walked away. "Goodnight."

"Why didn't you tell me that you didn't like it when I push you when we argue?" Sunstreaker questioned as he climbed into his berth. "I would have stopped if I had known."

"I thought you did know," Sideswipe shrugged, getting into Sunstreaker's berth. "How could you not have?"

"Because you never said so. How am I supposed to know if you don't like something, if you don't tell me."

"Oh..."

"I am sorry though, Sides. I won't push you again."

"It's okay, Sunny. I'm sorry for running away and not telling you that I didn't like it. What do you think Ratchet's going to do to punish us?"

"I don't know. I bet your punishment will be worse than mine though."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're the one who actually ran away. I didn't do anything except make you mad," Sunstreaker laughed. "So what happened when you left? How did you get lost?"

"I'm tired now. I'll tell you tomorrow."


End file.
